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The Wendell Lett Novels
Under False Flags
Forced into the Battle of the Bulge, two soldiers on opposing sides find the courage to desert when their honor is betrayed in this WWII thriller.
Belgium, 1944. For both American GI Wendell Lett and German seaman Holger Frings, the relentless bloodbath of World War II has become a prison and a curse. Just as Lett meets a Belgian woman who offers him deliverance from the toll of combat, he is pushed into a reckless false flag mission. At the same time, Frings is conscripted into a similar operation that takes him to the breaking point.
Their fates collide in the surprise Ardennes counteroffensive known as the Battle of the Bulge. As Lett tries to find his way back to his beloved Heloise, he and Frings team up to desert their savage overseers while the battle rages around them. In Under False Flags, the absurdity of war is brought to brutal light as each side attempts to disguise their cannon fodder in enemy uniform.
Under False Flags is the prequel to The Preserve, the second book featuring Wendell Lett.
Belgium, 1944. For both American GI Wendell Lett and German seaman Holger Frings, the relentless bloodbath of World War II has become a prison and a curse. Just as Lett meets a Belgian woman who offers him deliverance from the toll of combat, he is pushed into a reckless false flag mission. At the same time, Frings is conscripted into a similar operation that takes him to the breaking point.
Their fates collide in the surprise Ardennes counteroffensive known as the Battle of the Bulge. As Lett tries to find his way back to his beloved Heloise, he and Frings team up to desert their savage overseers while the battle rages around them. In Under False Flags, the absurdity of war is brought to brutal light as each side attempts to disguise their cannon fodder in enemy uniform.
Under False Flags is the prequel to The Preserve, the second book featuring Wendell Lett.
276 pages, Paperback
First published September 2, 2014
11 people are currently reading
1213 people want to read
About the author
Steve Anderson
15 books267 followersSteve Anderson writes the Kaspar Brothers historical thrillers and other novels. His latest novels are Show Game and Lines of Deception. Anderson was a Fulbright Fellow and has translated bestselling German fiction. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
More about Steve Anderson:
Years ago, Steve Anderson planned to become a history professor. He even landed a Fulbright Fellowship in Munich. Then he discovered fiction writing — he could make stuff up, he realized, using actual events and characters to serve the story. Now he writes novels that often introduce a little-known aspect of history, mixing in overlooked crimes, true accounts, and gutsy underdogs.
Steve has also written narrative nonfiction, short stories, and screenplays. His day jobs have included busy waiter, Associated Press rookie, language instructor, and copywriter. As a freelancer, he translates bestselling German fiction and edits novels.
He lives in his hometown of Portland, Oregon with his wife René. He’s loved and played soccer since he was a kid and still follows Portland Timbers FC.
More about Steve Anderson:
Years ago, Steve Anderson planned to become a history professor. He even landed a Fulbright Fellowship in Munich. Then he discovered fiction writing — he could make stuff up, he realized, using actual events and characters to serve the story. Now he writes novels that often introduce a little-known aspect of history, mixing in overlooked crimes, true accounts, and gutsy underdogs.
Steve has also written narrative nonfiction, short stories, and screenplays. His day jobs have included busy waiter, Associated Press rookie, language instructor, and copywriter. As a freelancer, he translates bestselling German fiction and edits novels.
He lives in his hometown of Portland, Oregon with his wife René. He’s loved and played soccer since he was a kid and still follows Portland Timbers FC.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 1, 2016
I received this book through a goodreads giveaway.
The reason I liked this book is how realistic it was. You could imagine exactly how the characters were feeling. The story was really great and the way the author expressed everything was really beautiful. Not that there was no blood or ugly violence. It makes you realize just how cruel war is and how it affects different people - soldiers, their families and normal civilians. Really really good. You need to read it. You may even cry.
The reason I liked this book is how realistic it was. You could imagine exactly how the characters were feeling. The story was really great and the way the author expressed everything was really beautiful. Not that there was no blood or ugly violence. It makes you realize just how cruel war is and how it affects different people - soldiers, their families and normal civilians. Really really good. You need to read it. You may even cry.
September 19, 2014
`How many times can a man toss a quarter, and have it just land on tails?'
Oregon author Steve Anderson is a noteworthy young author, a man with history in his veins and wars in his imagination. To date his novels have dealt with WW II in the Germany setting and he knows that period and that country well (he as lived in Germany as a Fulbright Fellow and his knowledge of the atmosphere and landscape of that country are evident): he has recently become a translator of German to English books whose focus is on crime and mystery. But Anderson has a richer and more entertaining background than simply a fine historical novelist: he has backpacked into Eastern Europe when the Berlin Wall fell, written narrative nonfiction, short stories and screenplays, worked in advertising, marketing, and journalism, and has been a waiter, a language instructor, a freelance copywriter. Full life? Enough to make his canvas for his books well prepared with personal gesso.
UNDER FALSE FLAGS (a very well chosen title!) pairs American GI Wendell Lett with German sailor Holger Frings who are individually assigned the task of impersonating the enemy (what we would consider a covert operator in civilian terms) in order to undermine the tactics on a dangerous mission. The coming together of these two territorially disparate men but war-weary psychologically similar souls is a study in true camaraderie as can only occur in the morally suffocating confines of war. Yes, there is a love tale (between Lett and the Belgian Heloise) but that takes second place in the grit of this anti-war tale - sadly a tale that continues to this day among troops in every war in which we seemingly are constantly engaged.
An author's choice to include quotations pertinent to the story always impresses this reader, and Anderson includes the following: "I always thought everyone was against war until I found out there are those who are all for it, especially those who do not have to go there." --Erich Maria Remarque, author and wounded WWI veteran. Somehow that impresses with the universality of Anderson's message.
He has a stingingly strong way with prose, pausing at times for a bit of poetic reverie that enhances the bite of the tale. He has the gift and we will be hearing more about him.
Oregon author Steve Anderson is a noteworthy young author, a man with history in his veins and wars in his imagination. To date his novels have dealt with WW II in the Germany setting and he knows that period and that country well (he as lived in Germany as a Fulbright Fellow and his knowledge of the atmosphere and landscape of that country are evident): he has recently become a translator of German to English books whose focus is on crime and mystery. But Anderson has a richer and more entertaining background than simply a fine historical novelist: he has backpacked into Eastern Europe when the Berlin Wall fell, written narrative nonfiction, short stories and screenplays, worked in advertising, marketing, and journalism, and has been a waiter, a language instructor, a freelance copywriter. Full life? Enough to make his canvas for his books well prepared with personal gesso.
UNDER FALSE FLAGS (a very well chosen title!) pairs American GI Wendell Lett with German sailor Holger Frings who are individually assigned the task of impersonating the enemy (what we would consider a covert operator in civilian terms) in order to undermine the tactics on a dangerous mission. The coming together of these two territorially disparate men but war-weary psychologically similar souls is a study in true camaraderie as can only occur in the morally suffocating confines of war. Yes, there is a love tale (between Lett and the Belgian Heloise) but that takes second place in the grit of this anti-war tale - sadly a tale that continues to this day among troops in every war in which we seemingly are constantly engaged.
An author's choice to include quotations pertinent to the story always impresses this reader, and Anderson includes the following: "I always thought everyone was against war until I found out there are those who are all for it, especially those who do not have to go there." --Erich Maria Remarque, author and wounded WWI veteran. Somehow that impresses with the universality of Anderson's message.
He has a stingingly strong way with prose, pausing at times for a bit of poetic reverie that enhances the bite of the tale. He has the gift and we will be hearing more about him.
September 16, 2014
Under False Flags is a very well done WWII adventure story with a strong commitment to realism. In this book, historian / novelist Steve Anderson, endeavors to peel back the layers of romanticism Hollywood and history has heaped on our boys who fought their way from Normandy to Berlin as well as the evil mystique that has grown up around the Nazi war machine. There are neither heroic allied generals nor ruthless Gestapo henchmen to be found here. Instead we get a dogface-eye-view of life on the front lines and all the mud, terror, blood and madness that the GI's actually lived through. The intersecting storyline shows the war from the vantage point of a non-Nazi / non-fanatic German sailor manning the wheel of an S Boat on North Atlantic raids.
That said, this is a novel, not a history book, and Under False Flags succeeds as a page-turner / high-testosterone spy novel admirably.
Bravo Mr. Anderson.
That said, this is a novel, not a history book, and Under False Flags succeeds as a page-turner / high-testosterone spy novel admirably.
Bravo Mr. Anderson.
June 7, 2017
This well written book tells the story of war from the point of view two of the major countries involved. The savage acts involved in fighting openly display the fact that "war is hell" and that there are really no victors in war - only survivors. Yes, Germany was defeated but at a huge cost in lives lost, bodies injured and families torn apart all because of basically one man's wish to control all of Europe. Yes, he had to be stopped and a declaration of war was probably necessary to stop the expansion of hate and murder throughout Europe but so many innocent people were and still are affected to this day. I will probably never understand how the "good" people of Germany could approve of their leaders actions of genocide to achieve his aspirations to be the leader of the world. We can only hope that the world has learned a lesson of what one person can do to upset the global balance of life. BUT, looking at the Middle East today suggests that we have not learned a damn thing. The same thing is happening all over again. Will the world's leaders ever learn?
July 26, 2020
A different war story
Well written world war 2 based on certain facts not often spoken of. I particularly liked the way the author describes the chaos and fear in battle without dwelling overly long on the gory bits because the reader can easily imagine the scenario.
Well written world war 2 based on certain facts not often spoken of. I particularly liked the way the author describes the chaos and fear in battle without dwelling overly long on the gory bits because the reader can easily imagine the scenario.
April 2, 2016
Simply Amazing. This would be one of the best War Thrillers I’ve ever read. What makes this book unique is that it is being told from both sides, firstly an American Soldiers point of view, and then a German Seaman’s point of view. The Author has done an amazing job of explaining the brutality of war. It’s not just the physical injuries sustained in the conflicts, but the mental breakdown of some of the soldiers & Seaman. The American GI Wendell Lett goes through hell, and eventually all of his initial squad are killed. I also wouldn’t like to be on a boat that doesn’t have any radar, like the German Seaman Holger Frings is on. Especially when the Allied forces have them, and are easily picking the Germans off one by one. The bombing in the tall pine forest is memorable, and something I won’t easily forget, brilliant. This is not a story that I just skimmed across the top of the words, I was completely pulled in, and easily lost track of time. That is exactly what I want from a book. Do yourself a favour and read this story, you won’t be disappointed.
September 9, 2014
I will admit that I was a little concerned that the author was writing another book set during the Battle of the Bulge. I really liked The Losing Role, and wondered if this could be as good. I needn't have worried. This is a very different book, but every bit as good.
The depiction of combat is gritty, raw, and realistic, holding nothing back, but not gratuitously gory or violent. Equally, the characters are believable. I can honestly say that I didn't want to put it down. I desperately wanted to know what happened to Wendel, Holger, and Heloise.
The depiction of combat is gritty, raw, and realistic, holding nothing back, but not gratuitously gory or violent. Equally, the characters are believable. I can honestly say that I didn't want to put it down. I desperately wanted to know what happened to Wendel, Holger, and Heloise.
Read
June 20, 2019Well written story.
Read
April 19, 2016about a tragic battle, April 17, 2016
By
John R. Carpenter
This review is from: Under False Flags: A Novel (Paperback) Steve Anderson
For American troops, the "Battle of the Bulge" was one of the most horrible battles of the entire WWII. If the numbers of the dead and wounded were high, there was another element that could only be described as embarrassment. The Germans achieved complete surprise. The American troops were going from victory to victory. Then there as a lull. During a full week the Allies encountered total silence on the part of German communications. There was not even any German radio contact heard on the radio waves. Silence.Then a furious German counterattack that caught the Allied troops flat-footed and drove them back, very far. American Generals were confronted by an insoluble problem: lose all their recent large gains made up to that point and retreat, without necessary new reserves or equipment? Or try to muddle through and put up a dispirited defense certain to create a huge bloodbath of their own making?
Memoirs by Generals like Eisenhower, in "Crusade in Europe" and other war leaders show the dilemma. To send large numbers of poorly prepared, exhausted GIs into the battle-- they would be blamed for the certain massive casualties-- or accept what was already a major defeat? A tough situation. To send their own troops into certain slaughter?
By
John R. Carpenter
This review is from: Under False Flags: A Novel (Paperback) Steve Anderson
For American troops, the "Battle of the Bulge" was one of the most horrible battles of the entire WWII. If the numbers of the dead and wounded were high, there was another element that could only be described as embarrassment. The Germans achieved complete surprise. The American troops were going from victory to victory. Then there as a lull. During a full week the Allies encountered total silence on the part of German communications. There was not even any German radio contact heard on the radio waves. Silence.Then a furious German counterattack that caught the Allied troops flat-footed and drove them back, very far. American Generals were confronted by an insoluble problem: lose all their recent large gains made up to that point and retreat, without necessary new reserves or equipment? Or try to muddle through and put up a dispirited defense certain to create a huge bloodbath of their own making?
Memoirs by Generals like Eisenhower, in "Crusade in Europe" and other war leaders show the dilemma. To send large numbers of poorly prepared, exhausted GIs into the battle-- they would be blamed for the certain massive casualties-- or accept what was already a major defeat? A tough situation. To send their own troops into certain slaughter?
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews